A Genealogist’s New Year’s Eve

The following poem is offered in honor of the late Beatrix Potter, the English author who wrote, Peter Rabbit, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck, The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, The Tale of Two Bad Mice, and many other such absolutely delightful adventurers. Beatrix Potter stated, “I hold that a strongly marked personality can influence descendants for generations.”

A Genealogist’s New Year’s Eve

The year is 1852, it is New Year’s Eve.  An ancestor dips his pen into his ink bottle as he sits at his desk writing his New Year’s Resolutions, by candlelight.

My New Year Resolutions for 1853.

1.  No man is truly well-educated unless he learns to spell his name at least three different ways and does so within the same document.  I resolve to give the appearance of being extremely well-educated during this coming year.

2.  I resolve to make certain that all of my children are named the exact same names which my ancestors have used for the past six generations.

3.  My age is my own business and that of no other person; therefore, I resolve to never list the same birth year twice on any business or religious document.

4. My children shall all be baptized in a different church, parish or perhaps even in a different faith. Every third child shall not be baptized at all or shall perhaps be baptized by an itinerant minister who keeps no records at all.

5.  I resolve to move to a new town, new county, or to a new state, at least once every ten years just a month or so before those pesky enumerators come around asking their silly questions.

6.  I will make every effort to reside in only counties and towns where no vital records are maintained or where the courthouse burns down every few years or so.

7.  I resolve to join an obscure religious cult which does not believe in record keeping nor in participating in military service.

8.  When the tax collector comes to my door, I shall lend him my own pen which I have carefully dipped into my own special rapidly fading blue ink.

9.  I resolve that if my beloved wife, Mary, should die, I will marry another lady with the same given name [Mary] in order to ensure that I never error in speaking her name.
10. I resolve not to make a will.  Who needs to spend money on a lawyer?

Christmas In The Shenandoah Valley Of Virginia

                           

Since 1726, most of my mother’s family has been blessed by being able to live their lives in the shadow of the Massanutten Mountain which lies in the middle of our beautiful and beloved Shenandoah Valley. 

The Shenandoah Valley is divided into two smaller valleys by the Massanutten or Peaked Mountain which is a complex ridge that extends for a distance of approximately fifty miles from Strasburg southwest to Harrisonburg. The main valley, just south of Strasburg, is about five miles wide and is drained by the North Fork of the Shenandoah River, while the narrower Page Valley is drained by the South Fork of the Shenandoah River and is approximately less than a mile and a half wide at the Town of Overall which was once the antebellum Town of Milford. In reality, there are two valleys within a valley. 

I am positive that most of you are aware that today’s Interstate 81 borders the western side of the Massanutten with US Routes 33 and 340 bordering the eastern side.  This is important because the geography of an area has a profound effect upon the human history of that area. We know that the oldest rocks in the Blue Ridge are to be found in the eastern part of Rockingham County near the vicinity of Swift Run Gap or the area which Virginia’s Governor Spotswood explored in his 1716 journey across the “blue mountains.”

There are basically two very old roads running into this geographic area: The Warrior’s Trace also known as the Great Wagon Road which runs from north to south and enters the Shenandoah Valley from Pennsylvania and Maryland [basically today’s Interstate 81] and the road which crosses the Blue Ridge to eastern Virginia [basically Rt. 33].  Hills, ridges and streams provided many secondary routes of travel during the early years of settlement.  Much of the Valley’s early commerce such as grain, wool, lumber, and tanning bark moved down the forks of the Shenandoah River to ports further north and also to the east.

People of various nationalities made their way into the Shenandoah Valley using these two major pathways resulting in our people being multi-lingual.  Two newspapers were read in the Valley prior to the American Revolution: the German paper out of Philadelphia and the English paper from Williamsburg.

We all know that our area was physically invaded, burned with many farms and businesses  totally destroyed less than one hundred years after the Revolution during the War Between the States. The following engagements are long remembered by Valley residents: 1862- First Kernstown, McDowell, Front Royal, First Winchester, Port Republic 1863- Lee’s Gettysburg Campaign, Second Winchester, Manassas Gap 1864- Lynchburg Campaign, New Market, Piedmont, Lynchburg, Early’s Maryland Campaign, Monocacy, Cool Springs, Rutherford’s Farm, Second Kernstown, Sheridan’s Shenandoah Campaign, Guard Hill, Tom’s Brook, Cedar Creek 1865 - Sheridan’s Expedition to Petersburg and Waynesboro. If we are very lucky, we do remember memories and stories our own grandparents shared with us about their own childhood, exactly as they lived it here within our beautiful Shenandoah Valley.  My grandfather was born the 18th of December 1893 or only sixteen years after the period of “marshall law” had come to an end in Military District One which was, the Commonwealth of Virginia. Exactly what was Christmas like in this area which had experienced such devastation?  Why do children remember certain things from their childhood? What makes one day stand out as being special in a child’s memory? When I was a child, I did take the time to ask my grandfather about his Christmas.  He picked me up and sat me down upon his knee and said, “Well, you know, Christmas was different back then.  We lost so much during the war that… well, we were very poor.  Santa came to see us, but he only left an orange, some nuts and a little candy in each of our stockings… .” After a moment’s pause, he went on to explain that his mother got up a little earlier than usual to start their special Christmas breakfast.  The way he said, “special Christmas breakfast,” let me know that this was, indeed, important to him. With a smile on his face, he continued, “On Christmas Eve day, Momma always baked her special  applesauce cake with the black walnuts in it that we children had gathered and cracked for her in the evenings after supper as we sat around the fireplace before we went to bed. We could hardly sleep that night as we thought about eating the cake that had made the whole house smell so good. We always had eggs, meat, oatmeal, hot breads, butter, jams and fruit pies for breakfast; but on Christmas morning, Momma always fried the gallon of oysters daddy had gotten for our breakfast.  As I grew older, I made a point of asking other older folk about their childhood memories of Christmas.  I soon discovered that all shared just about the exact same basic memories.  It seemed that all mommas also baked a coconut cake sometime during the week of Christmas.  Sometimes this special cake was baked on Christmas Day or shortly thereafter. Most families decorated this cake with candied orange peel or made orange marmalade from the orange rinds to go between this cake’s layers.  Of course, they had to drain the milk from the coconut and then crack the shell, peel the brown skin from the fresh coconut and then shred it to put on the freshly baked cake. Eventually, I understood that in my grandfather’s generation, Christmas gifts were for the benefit of the whole family.  Boys received guns, knives, etc. as they acquired the skills necessary to use these items correctly and had an actual need for them. Girls learned to sew, knit, crochet, and embroidery about the same time their brothers were learning the manly skills necessary for every day success in their lives.  They received crochet hooks, knitting and sewing needles as the need arose. Brazil nuts, chocolate drops, peanut brittle, and pink and white coconut candies filled the areas in the children’s stockings left by the round oranges. About 1900, boxed chocolate covered cherries were added to the above as a specialty candy available for the whole family to enjoy during the Christmas holidays. All of you who have been in one of my classes or lectures, have heard me say repeatedly that you absolutely, positively cannot judge the past upon today’s values. The Christmas holidays are an excellent example as to why this should never be done. How many of you have heard the common phrase, “Why, our family was so poor that we only received an orange for Christmas?”  If you persisted in asking  what else was in the stockings, the answer would be that it also contained a few Brazil nuts and some candy. While these statements are very true, they are also very deceptive as to what they tell about those holidays.  Let’s step back and remember that both of the major roadways into the Shenandoah Valley were not hard surfaced but were dirt and gravel pathways.   Let’s also take into consideration that Christmas is a winter holiday and add our winter weather to the road situation.  Add to the above facts, we know from written records that it was literally one day’s journey by stage coach from the Golden Horseshoe Tavern at the base of the Blue Ridge in present day Greene County to the Shipp Tavern near the base of the Blue Ridge in Rockingham County.   Now, let us carefully consider the reality of the Christmas gifts as described above: 1. The nearest oysters live in the Atlantic Ocean and had to be gathered, shucked of their shells and packed in a container to be brought to the Shenandoah Valley to be prepared for Christmas breakfast.  2. Brazil nuts are rich in dietary minerals, fiber, vitamin E, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, zinc, thiamin, and selenium.  Even today, six of these nuts supply ten times the adult recommended level. These nuts grow on large trees in Guianas, Venezuela, Brazil, eastern Columbia, eastern Peru, and eastern Bolivia. They also occur in large scattered trees on the banks of the Amazon River, Rio Negro, Tapajos, and the Orinoco. 3. Any kind of candy was considered special because it contained sugar which was not grown in the Shenandoah Valley.  Molasses was available and many families would make taffy.  Molasses and honey were also used on hot breads. 4. Scurvy is a serious disease which is caused by a diet that lacks vitamin C. Patients develop anemia, debility, exhaustion, edema or swelling in parts of the body and sometimes ulceration of the gums resulting in loss of teeth.  During the American Revolution men could not serve in the military if they had no teeth because they could not eat military rations of hard-tack, dried corn, etc.  Eighty-six years later, during the War Between the States, scurvy was still considered a serious disease.  Citrus fruit was known to help prevent scurvy; therefore, a gift of an orange could prevent scurvy. Sailing ships carrying oranges which originated in China and had then spread to the Mediterranean area, could take months to travel to the United States.  It was not unusual for one half of the orange cargo to rot before they reached their destination. This caused the orange to be a very expensive item. At Christmas, many folk remembered family members who were no longer with them and tried very hard to make Christmas time memorable for their own children.  It is important for us, living today to remember that an orange was more expensive than the best mountain bike of today.  Most of our families were farmers who were doing their best just to rebuild their lives and educate their children. If you then add in the cost of the oysters, coconut, candy and nuts it is easy to understand that a family worked all year just to give their family members things that were very special on Christmas. One other thing always comes to mind as I remember the way mom’s family celebrated Christmas: two large country hams were always served.  Granddaddy always had a two year old ham for “his” Christmas dinner and, in addition, my grandmother always cooked her ham which was only one year old.  Indeed, they seemed to enjoy teasing each other about the quality of their respective choices. Perhaps, it had nothing to do with Grandmother’s family being of a Germanic heritage and while my Granddad’s family was of Scotch-Irish descent. At Christmas, I choose to give boxes of chocolate covered cherries to honor the memory of my grandfather and yes, we still serve fried oysters, a country ham and the traditional coconut cake.

Christmas

Traditions and symbols which are deeply engraved in the folk consciousness take on a much deeper meaning as holidays are observed.

Christmas is a sacred religious holiday celebrating the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth whose teachings form the basis of the Christian religion. People from around the world have observed Christmas Day (December 25^th) for two millennia. It has been a United States federal holiday since 1870 or for just one hundred forty-five years.

Christmas is also a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon which people observe by the decoration of Christmas trees, shared meals with family and friends, the giving of gifts, religious services at church and the arrival of Santa Claus.  

The middle of winter has long been a time of celebration.  In the darkest days of winter, early Europeans celebrated the winter solstice as a time when they could look forward to extended days of sunlight.

The Norse, in Scandinavia celebrated “Yule,” the winter solstice, from the 21^st of December through January.  Fathers and their sons brought home large logs which they would set on fire in observance of the return of the sun. A feast was held until the log burned out which took about twelve days. It was believed that each spark from the fire represented a new calf or pig to be born during the coming year.

In most areas of Europe, the end of December was the perfect time for a celebration as the majority of cattle were slaughtered in order that they would not have to be fed during the winter months. For many families this was the only time of year in which they enjoyed a good supply of fresh meat.  Also, most beer and wine made earlier during the year was finally fermented and ready for drinking at this time.

In Germany, Oden was honored, as it was believed, that he flew the night sky to observe his people in order to decide who would prosper or perish. Because of this belief, many folk stayed inside.

Germany also gave the world their “tannenbaum” or as it is better known, “the Christmas tree.”  The old pagan custom of the sacrifice tree was revived by Martin Luther; but, ornaments and lights were used for decorations instead of the traditional live sacrifices.  The tree was brought to America by Hessian mercenaries in the service of King George III of England during the American Revolution. Later, in the 1840’s, Prince Albert, the German born consort of Queen Victoria, set up a tree in the Palace.

In Rome, “Saturnalia” was a hedonistic holiday honoring Satum, the god of agriculture which was celebrated the week leading up to the winter solstice and continued for a full month.  Perhaps this was because the winters in this geographic area were not as harsh as those in the far north.  Food and drink were plentiful and the normal social order of the Romans was literally turned upside down.  Slaves became masters and peasants were in command of the city.  During the “Feast of Fools,” business and schools were closed in order that all could join in the fun. Each year, a student or beggar was crowned the “Lord of Misrule,” who presided as celebrants played the part of his court.  Homes of the rich were visited by the poor demanding their best food and drink.  If it was not forth coming, the visitors would terrorize the home owner with mischief.  Christmas became the time of year when the upper classes could repay their real or imagined debt to society by entertaining those less fortunate.

Romans also celebrated “Juvenalia,” a feast honoring the children of Rome about the time of the winter solstice.  On the 25^th of December, members of the upper classes celebrated the birthday of Mithra, the god of the unconquerable sun.  It was believed that Mithra, an infant god, was born of a rock.  Mithra’s birthday was the most sacred day of the year for some of the upper classes of Roman society.

Easter was the main holiday during the early years of Christianity as the birth of Jesus was not celebrated as a holiday. Church officials decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday in the fourth century when Pope Julius chose the 25^th of December, even though some evidence suggested that his birth occurred in the spring. Unfortunately, the Bible does not mention the date of his birth.  Later, the Puritans pointed out this fact in order to deny the legitimacy of the Christmas celebration.

It is commonly believed that the church chose the 25^th of December in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival.  First called the “Feast of the Nativity,” the custom had spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century. By the end of the eighth century, the Christmas celebration had spread all the way to Scandinavia.

Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches of today, celebrate Christmas thirteen days after the 25^th of December.  This holiday is referred to as the “Epiphany,” or “Three Kings Day,” as this is the day on which it is believed that the three wise men finally found Jesus in the manger.

By allowing Christmas to be held during the same time as traditional winter solstice festivals, church leaders increased the possibility that Christmas would be embraced by the people, but, in doing so, they gave up the manner in which it was to be celebrated. By the Middle Ages, Christianity had just about replaced pagan religion.  Believers attended church, then celebrated in a carnival-like atmosphere similar to today’s “Mardi Gras.”

The first eggnog was made and consumed in 1607 at Captain John Smith’s Jamestown settlement.

 In 1645, when Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe as they had vowed to rid England of decadence; therefore, they cancelled Christmas.

Charles II was restored to the throne by popular demand, and with him came the return of the popular Christmas holiday.

The Pilgrims, who were English separatists that came to the colonies in 1620 aboard the ship, Mayflower, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than was Cromwell, resulting in  Christmas not being a holiday in the Colony of Massachusetts. In 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings.

After the American Revolution, English customs, including Christmas, fell out of favor.  Christmas was declared a federal holiday on the 26^th of June 1870.  In the early 19^th century, Americans re-invented Christmas changing it from its raucous carnival style holiday into a family one which was centered upon remembrance, peace and joy.

This change most probably occurred as the early 19^th century was a period of class conflict and turmoil.  Unemployment was high with gang riots by the disenchanted occurring during the Christmas season. For instance, in 1828, the New York City Council instituted the city’s first police force in response to a Christmas riot.  This caused members of the upper classes to begin to change the way Christmas was celebrated in the United States of America.

Washington Irving, the best-selling American author, wrote, The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gentleman, which was a series of stories about the celebration of Christmas in an English manor house.  They feature a squire who invited the peasants into his home for the holiday.  The two groups mingled effortlessly in contrast to problems faced by those in American society.  Irving believed that Christmas should be a happy, peaceful holiday bringing groups together across lines of social status or wealth. His fictitious characters enjoyed “ancient customs.” Irving’s book was not based upon any celebration that he, himself, had ever attended.  Many historians state that Irving’s account “invented” tradition by implying that it actually described the true customs of the season.

About this same time, Charles Dickens, the English author, wrote A Christmas Carol, which became a classic holiday story. The importance of charity and good will toward all humankind showed Victorian society in both England and America the benefits of celebrating the holiday season.

 In America, Christmas was celebrated as the perfect family holiday resulting in people looking to new immigrants, the Episcopalian, and the Catholic Church to better understand the way this special holiday should be celebrated.  Americans built a Christmas tradition all their own during the next one hundred years which included the sending of holiday cards, decorating trees, candy canes and gift giving.

Clement Clarke Moore had introduced the American people to the iconic image of Santa Claus in his 1823 poem, “A Visit From St Nickolas,” more popularly known as “The Night Before Christmas.” Four decades later, the modern-day figure of St. Nick dripped off of the pen of the famous illustrator, Thomas Nast for the 3^rd of January 1863 cover of Harper’s Weekly.

Poinsettia plants were brought to the United States from Mexico in 1828. The plant was named for Joel R. Poinsett, an American minister to Mexico.

The practice of sending Christmas cards is fairly recent.   In 1843, Sir Henry Cole of England sent cards designed by J. C. Horsley to friends.

Since the 1890’s, the Salvation Army has been sending Santa Claus clad donation collectors in to the streets.

The Rockeffer Center Christmas Tree tradition was started in 1931 by construction workers.

In 1939, Rudolph, “the most famous reindeer of all,” came into being in the imagination of Robert L. May’s most famous poem, “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer,” which was written to lure customers into the Montgomery Ward department store.

Merry Christmas To All.

A Journal - Elkton - McGaheysville Area

Miss Lottie  M. Davis

A Journal
Elkton - McGaheysville Area

Page Seventy
May 1932
  1 May 1932 - All day service at United Brethren Church $400.00.
  2 May 1932 - Daddy taken blood. Test on Mon[day].
  5 May 1932 - Covered dish supper at church.  L[adies] A[ide]. $31.00.
  6 May 1932 - Mr. Clarence Life died.  Forty-five years. Friday.

Page Seventy-one
May 1932
  6 May 1932 - Charles Rogers died. Twenty years Friday. Funeral Sun[day].
  6 May 1932- Mrs. Edith Maiden Armentrout on Fri[day].

  8 May 1932 - Mother's Day.
12 May 1932 - Lindy [Charles Lindburg] baby found by Negro, William Allen truck driver five miles from home on Thursday, gone seventy-two days.
14 May 1932 - Mr. Bob Bridge died age seventy-two years.  Heart trouble. Saturday.
    May 1932 - Philadelphia -city produce.
    May 1932 - Eggs .08 cents.
24 May 1932 - Mr. Worchester died.
27 May 1932 - New paper on Hall.  Mr. Hammer.
26 May 1932 - New carpet on steps from Sears.
26 May 1932 - Mrs. Amos Shifflett died on Friday.

Page Seventy-one
June 1932
  2 Jun 1932 - Mr. Bill Carco killed self age twenty-three.
 4 Jun 19 32 - A. T.[J?] Turner killed by Tom Ware, Sr.

 5 June 1932 - Children's Day.
11 Jun 1932 - Daddy went to hospital.

Page Seventy-two
June 1932
      Jun 1932 - Mrs. Will Shifflett was a Lawson before married.
 12 Jun 1932 -  Mr. Brown limb taken  off.
   4 Jun 1932 - Mrs. Lester McGuire new Baby.
 22 Jun 1932 - Mrs. Maggie Life taken to Richmond.
 23 Jun 1932 - Mrs. Bud Flory new baby.
 24 Jun 1932 - Daddy came home from Hospital.
    Jun 1932 - Archie Louderback married.
[To be continued...]